College and Research Libraries


be converted to a relative classification. By 
1914-15 cataloging was essentially up-to­
date. 

These tasks were spurred on by the im­
pending gift from Eleanor Wilkins Wid­
ener of a building in memory of her son, 
Harry Elkins Widener. The development 
of the building through careful negotiations 
with Mrs. Widener, who President Lowell 
noted had "decided architectural opinions" 
and with her architect, Horace Trombauer, 
who was dedicated to the grandiose style, 
is told in excerpts from letters and other 
documents which are amusing in retrospect, 
although no doubt painful at the time. 

Much of Coolidge's energies was spent 
in urging gifts from alumni and friends, but 
often the additional funds needed to buy 
a special collection, to suppmt an agent in 
Europe or South America, or to underwrite 
unusual operating expenses came from his 
own pocket. Coolidge's role was more than 
that of a fund raiser; his view of collecting 
for a university library is given in a 1925 
letter: 

I have always believed in quality and 
quantity, accepting cheerfully everything 
that comes our way but doing my best to 
guide carefully the expenditure of what­
ever funds I control or when I have any 
influence on the purchases of others .... 
A collection of a single author, no matter 
how splendid, cannot be understood with­
out knowledge of his sources, of the in­
fluences which surrounded him and af­
fected him and the results he produced on 
the minds of others. 

Bentinck-Smith's knowledge of the Har­
vard scene comes from his years as editor 
of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and as as­
sistant to the President of Harvard. I doubt 
that anyone else could have produced the 
same note of affection tempered by gently 
poking fun at the eccentricities of the peri­
od. The book has been handsomely printed 
by the Stinehour Press, composed by the 
Harvard University Printing Office, and 
bound in blue cloth with crimson endpa­
pers and the Harvard crest in gold on the 
front cover.-]oe W. Kraus, Illinois State 
University Library, Normal, Illinois. 

Brewster, Beverly J. American Overseas Li­
brary Technical Assistance, 1940-1970. 
Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow, 1976. 434p. 

Recent Publications I 61 

$17.50. (LC 75-23006) (ISBN 0-8108­
0827-7) 
In this book, based on her Ph.D. disser­

tation (University of Pittsburgh Graduate 
School of Library and Information Sci­
ences), the author discusses patterns of li­
brary technical assistance of public and pri­
vate agencies in the U.S. to other nations. 
These contributions include visits of experts 
and technicians; receiving fellowship re­
cipients; organizing courses and seminars; 
exchanging or disseminating information or 
documents; and supplying materials, equip­
ment, and, occasionally, financial support. 

The history of U.S. library technical as­
sistance from 1940 to 1970 through its ma­
jor sponsoring agencies is divided into three 
chapters. 

The first examines the activities and con­
tributions of the U.S. Government, begun 
in 1938 with the inauguration of the cul­
tw·al relations program. Although the govein­
ment has supposedly funded the lar~est 
number of projects involving library advi­
sors until the 1960s, the analysis of these ac­
tivities is not so detailed and informative 
as the treatment of the private sector. This 
imbalance may be explained by the author's 
statement that "there is no lack of primary 
documents in this area, although the ma­
jority of these reports are still publicly un­
available" (p.5). The references used in the 
first chapter clearly show the lack of pri­
mary material. 

The second chapter on the activities of 
private voluntary agencies gives special em­
phasis to the activities of the Carnegie 
Corporation and the Rockefeller, Carnegie, 
and Asia Foundations. For each of these 
agencies the author describes program 
goals, geographical area of concern, sup­
port to university library developments, and 
suooort to library educators. Documents 
and reports from these foundations and in­
terviews and private correspondence with 
responsible individuals result in a well­
written, authenticated chapter. 

The third chapter, equally well-written, 
describes the activities of the ALA during 
the same period, 1940-1970. The associa­
tion's international relationships vis-a-vis 
the sponsoring agencies are examined to de­
termine the role it has played in this area 
of international involvement. 



62 I College & Research Libraries • January 1977 

Librarians, cultural historians, and for­
eign relations specialists will find the book 
informative and very useful. Librarians who 
call for isolationism should read this book 
with an open mind. It is a good analysis of 
the way we were: compassionate, loving, 
and very helpful.-Mohammed M. Aman, 
Dean, Palmer Graduate Library School, 
C. W. J>ost Center, Long Island U niversi­
ty, New York. 

Halsey, Richard Sweeney. Classical Music 
Recordings for Home and Library. Chi­
cago: American Library Assn., 1976. 
340p. $15.00. (LC 75-40205) (ISBN 0­
8389-0188-3) 
This is a rather peculiar work both in its 

intentions and its realization. The author 
states that "its chief purpose is to ease the 
way for those who want to build, enlarge 
or upgrade their collections.... Although 
nostalgic humanists may deplore the cal­
culated intervention of the recording studio, 
the public and the art of music benefit. This 
guide has been prepared to promote the 
widest possible distribution of that benefit 
to listeners of all ages" (p.vii). 

How Mr. Halsey goes about his stated 
purposes is what constitutes the oddity. 
The book is divided into six main sections 
(excluding the glossary of audio terms and 
the title and subject-proper name-composer 
indices) : ( 1) music, education, and record­
ings; ( 2 ) the "collection"; ( 3) reviews; ( 4 ) 
buying sound recordings; ( 5) classification, 
cataloging, and care of sound recordings; 
and ( 6) equipment and environments for 
listening. Except for section two, the work 
is in narrative form and is excellent from 
the standpoint of brjnging together a 
plethora of information into one handbook. 

The title of the work, however, suggests 
that it is section two which is of primary 
importance and it is precisely this section 
which is weak. Basically, it is comprised of 
two large listings: a composer-title list 
(subdivided into ten categories essentially 
by musical genre or form, and arranged 
within each category alphabetically by 
composer and then title) and a manufactur­
er's catalog number-performer list. Mr. Hal­
sey has assigned each item in the first list 
a distinctive "guide number" by means of 
which one may locate all of the titles on a 

disc identified in the second list. 
Further, each entry in the composer-title 

list is given three coded ratings: ( 1) min­
imum age level (broken down to adult, sec­
ondary, and elementary); ( 2) aesthetic sig­
nificance (a five point scale, 1 indicating 
"a masterpiece," 5 "flawed or insubstan­
tial") ; and ( 3) access (another five point 
scale, 1 being a work which "commands at­
tention" while 5 denotes an "austere, eso­
teric" work. These indications tend to be 
quite subjective and, often, capricious, Mr. 
Halsey's assertions notwithstanding (e.g., 
the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 has an 
aesthetic significance of 1 while the Sibeli­
us Third Symphony rates a 4 and Stravin­
sky's Fire bird is given a 3) . 

This, plus the lack of important informa­
tion (e.g., names of orchestras and, fre­
quently, key performers and record labels 
are omitted), the approximation of playing 
times, the massive number of items cov­
ered (over 4,000 compositions), and the 
sheer cumbersomeness of the unwieldy ar­
rangement extirpate any usefulness section 
two might have offered. 

In fine, the work can be recommended 
only for the portion excluding section two, 
and recommended only for those who do 
not own works treating the subjects herein 
cared for in greater depth.-Kenyon C. 
Rosenberg, Assistant Director, University 
Libraries, Kent State University, Kent, 
Ohio. · 

Patterson, Maureen L. P.; and Yan:uck, 
Martin, eds. South Asian Library Re­
sources in North America. Papers from 
the Boston Conference, 197 4. Committee 
on South Asian Libraries and Documen­
tation of the Association for Asian Stud­
ies. Bibliotheca Asiatica 11. · Zug, Switzer­
land: Inter Documentation Company, 
1975. 362p. $24.00. (ISBN 0-88386­
797-4 US) 

Patterson, Maureen L. P ., ed. South Asian 
Library Resources in North America. A 
Survey Prepared for the Boston Confer­
ence, 1974. Committee on South Asian 
Libraries and Documentation of the As­
sociation for Asian Studies. Bibliotheca 
Asiatica 12. Zug, Switzerland: Inter Doc­
umentation Company, 1975. 223p. 
$20.00 (ISBN 0-88386-798-2) (Distrib­